New product...in progress

As a pinterest-loving teacher, the idea of these doodles on the board every morning is inspiring...

...and for me, unrealistic.  I'd do this for maybe a week, then have an emergency meeting, forget to do this, and be sassed by the little ones.  

For those teachers that can manage to not only have a clean board space every morning, but create these elaborate doodles, hats off to you!  I am not this teacher.

Plus, the sheer amount of post-it's we'd go through if I did this weekly makes me cringe.

But, I love this idea.  I think it'd go a long way towards promoting a classroom culture where sharing is encouraged.  It'd be an easy way to get them writing in the morning because I plan to have a special journal just for these warm ups.  At my school, we serve universal breakfast, so this could be their activity while I call tables for food.  After I've gone through the class roster, they would have the opportunity to share their ideas with their tables.  Depending on time, I could also have class volunteers.

Not only would this get them thinking, talking, and sharing first thing in the morning, it would have the second benefit of encouraging on time attendance.  Tardy students would get to hear the conversations, but not participate if their journals aren't done first. 

So some time earlier this week, when I was having trouble sleeping, I decided to start this product.  I'm making a power point with daily prompts.  A ppt, created in advance, eliminates a majority of my time management issue with creating the prompts.  Furthermore, I can display this on my smartboard (which is always clean). 

I'm making this product for my classroom (upper elementary) and based on our school 
calendar (180 days).  Since it's a ppt, it will be completely editable for purchasers.  I'm through the middle of October (it's a labor of love), but here are some sneak peeks:

Stay tuned! I only have 140 days to go...

Secret Sale!

(No puppies were harmed during the filming of this image.  A puppy treat was most definitely involved!)

Weekend flash sale at {my store}.  20% off all my products, hoppy shopping!

Transitions

I'm preparing to transition to third grade and getting kind of excited about it.

One of my favorite kiddos has a younger sibling in second grade, so I'll get to work with his awesome family for a second year in a row! (Not that teachers have favorites...but I'm allowed to have favorite parents!)

The classroom I'm moving into probably won't be ready on time.  That teacher is leaving to another school due to personal reasons, and I don't want to further anger this teacher by trying to move in while he is moving out.  It's better to just move everything home (it's not that far of a drive) and move back in August for a clean start.

I've started boxing up materials and separating what will stay in my garage, what gets given away, and what is set aside for third grade.  I'm even labeling the boxes for ease of moving.  Since B is on campus helping coach girls' soccer, he's on campus anyway.  On Mondays, he helps me move home boxes.  I told my students that I'm moving down to third grade and that the classroom books will be the last thing to go so they can enjoy them as long as possible.  Once it was established that the books are off limits until June, they were totally fine with me boxing up the classroom.  Granted, I'm not doing this while they're actually in the room.  There are just piles of boxes slowly being piled up along the sides of the classroom.

In the mean time, I'm also going through materials and seeing what can be scaffolded down to meet third grade needs.  I'm using my "bonus bucks" from Scholastic to stock up on second and third grade classics.  I've got a {donorschoose} project for third grade materials.  Today, between naps, I also drafted my third grade supply list:

We are supposed to supply some blurb that the school district supplies all the necessary materials and the listed supplies are just a suggestion, but we all know that's simply not true.  I get $123 from the state for class supplies, which won't even cover notebooks for my classroom.  Most teachers spend around $1,000 out of pocket on their classrooms each year.  Hopefully my parents will be generous and I won't have to cover too much out of pocket. I was able to stock up on dry erase markers on clearance last year and always try to snag deals at Target.

Fellow teacher friends, am I missing anything for third grade?

Photography Catch Up

Day 11: Three of a Kind

Tying in with national pet day, I used this day to promote pet adoptions by posting glamour shots of my three fur babies.

I also posted their pictures on the adoption agencies (Happy Home Animal Sanctuary and Adopt a Rescue Pet) where we found them to show how loved they are.

I know some of my friends have purchased pets from breeders and that's their choice.  However, with how full animal shelters are, I can't make that choice.

Day 12: On My Left

In the very limited amount of time I spent outside, my sinus infection has returned.  I'm just really, really sick of being sick.

(On the bright side, I scored a light purple mask this time!)

I went back to the doctor, got another round of medication, and have been hibernating for the past few days to try to shake this off.

On my left, my beautiful nurse.

She's very quick to steal my heating pad.  She's great like that.

My Favorite Time of Day (Day 10 of April's Photography Challenge)

On social media, I uploaded a quick video of my very excited puppy when she learned we were going for a walk.  It's definitely her favorite part of the day.

This, however, was not my favorite part:

I'm renewing my teacher license and getting a lot of conflicting information from the school district and the state department of education.  I drove 20 minutes to get finger printed, only to discover that finger prints must be done after I turn in transcripts to the department of education.  However, the state department of education lists bringing the finger prints and transcripts in when turning in paperwork, thus the conundrum.

Finding myself with extra time to kill, I visited Starbucks before a doctor's appointment.  I made the healthy choice to get an egg white sandwich, but it was entirely unsatisfying and I should have just gotten the blueberry muffin.

The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. I found some cute deals at Home Goods and got one of my favorite two year old's his birthday gift (a basket and different types of balls).  I had lunch with his aunt and cousin to plan a 90th birthday party, and then happily enjoyed a nap.

I've tabled the license situation until June.  I refuse to take a sick day to deal with the licensing department and I've got until the end of August.

In the dark

Day 9 of the photography challenge: "Dark"

I am totally in the dark about how B is going to fix the roof.  We had a massive wind storm last week and our roof took a beating.

Here was the view of our playground at dismissal:

Here were some news reports on the event:

(Image from the {Washington Times})

(More on the storm {here})

Today we went to Home Depot to get supplies to repair the roof.  As always, I love Home Depot!

We also picked up supplies for some smaller home improvement projects.  

When our front security door was installed, they left a layer of white caulking surrounding the door.  With a tan door and a tan wall, it was super obvious when up close.

Tonight, I remedied the situation by painting over the caulk.  It looks much better now!

Later this week I'll be staining the oak cabinets in the garage to match the bathroom ones.  Our next big home improvement project will be to replace the carpet in the master bathroom with some gray and white marble tile.

In a perfect world, our home would have had everything 100% to our liking when we moved in.  However, we don't have an unlimited budget, the house was ten years old, and we have to do things in baby steps.  

In the almost three years we've lived here, we have:

1) Replaced the dishwasher and the water heater
2) Installed a new fridge, washer, dryer, and water softener
3) Added 2 security doors
4) Added new furniture (couches, coffee table, dining room table, chairs, media stand, TV, recliner, bedroom set, mattress)
5) Painted the master from green to calming shades of blue and gray
6) Hung lots of curtains 
7) Stained kitchen cabinets and bathroom cabinets
8) Started a fire pit in the backyard

Up next?

1) Replace carpet with tile
2) Replace carpet in the master
3) Redo the backyard with artificial grass and rock
4) Purchase patio furniture
5) Organize the garage to convert it to a man cave (to be fair, I'm working on that this week)

A wonderful wedding!

Day 8 of April's photography challenge focused on hobbies.

I like event planning. I like hearing about other's plans for their weddings and acting as a sounding board.

My dear friend, Ms. S, got married yesterday.  I hosted her work bridal shower, went to her friends/family bridal shower, and of course went to her wedding.

Her work bridal shower:

Full disclosure: I do not make the cakes, I simply enjoy eating a slice.  

My tasks are decorating (which usually involves wandering around my home and bringing things in), buying supplies (cutlery, drinks, table cloths, etc), and running the event.  I'm fortunate enough to have awesome coworkers who take pictures, slice up the cake, and make lists for thank you cards (if I'm unable to).  

She had a wonderful time, felt loved, and even brought donuts the next day.  However, I somehow missed the memo and didn't get a donut (boo!).

Her wedding:

We arrived a little early and found seats on her side.  We were served champagne before the ceremony which was an awesome touch.  

(I was sad when the champagne was gone.)

They had a small, intimate wedding party.  Her brother was a bridesman and her sister served as a stunning MOH:

(That dress! I want to just wear it somewhere fancy.)

Her dad walked her down the aisle and I immediately began the first of many "pretty crying" moments.

The ceremony was playful and romantic.  They both teared up during their vows, which made me cry.

While they went off to take pictures, we enjoyed cocktail hour with signature cocktails and passed buffalo chicken won tons.

 (Gorgeous flowers)

(We found our table numbers based on our champagne glasses.  We were at table ten. We had a very good time.)

(They enlarged one of their engagement pictures to serve as the guest book.  We all signed in the white space around them.  Now they have a gorgeous piece of art to hang on their wall and remind them of their wedding day.)

(Not to worry, I enjoyed several of the signature cocktails throughout the night!)

(We found the bride and groom during cocktail hour!)

(Gorgeous table decor.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but the poker chips were personalized with their faces and their wedding date.  What a fun, whimsical touch!)

(Their delicious wedding cake that told the story of their relationship.)

(Their head table, right off the dance floor.)

They had a caricature artist on site, which was a super fun unique touch and made for some awesome favors.

There was an open bar, delicious food, and a photo booth.  The couple had a wonderful time and we definitely danced, a lot.

(We each got a piece, so we got to sample both flavors!)

(Table ten was full of shenangians.)

(Group selfie! Janel, the bride, and the MOH)

Back to our photography challenge...I stated that my hobbies include celebrating others, drinking, and taking selfies with others.  Needless to say, mission accomplished!

Spring Break Goals

1) Celebrate Ms. S's wedding (tonight!).  Not only am I sure to cry a lot (thank you waterproof {Younique} mascara), but take lots of pictures for her.  My friend Mrs. K took lots of the venue and decor for me, which helped tide me over until the professional ones came six weeks later.

2) Paint our cabinets.  We ripped out our medicine cabinets in our master and had custom shelving built. I'm staining the new cabinets over break to match the other cabinets that I painted {last year}.

We're going to Home Depot tomorrow to get some new paint brushes to complete the project.

3) Paperwork

Between a doctor's appointment, renewing my teaching license, getting finger printed for my license, and updating my passport with my new married name, I've got a lot of paperwork to do.  

4) Family time

I'm helping B's aunt plan her mom's 90th birthday party next month.  We're having lunch on Monday to talk about decor and some of the details.  Plus she won some free leggings at a Lularoe party I hosted, so I've got to give those to her as well.

5) Prep for third grade

I'm redoing my "No Way Jose" game to fit third grade standards.  I know I won't need it until August, but I won't have access to a printer over the summer, so I should start this early.  I'll need to cut out laminate, but that's easily done during a summer Netflix binge.  I've also started mapping out my supply list of what I'll need for third grade.  

6) Finish my mom's album

As part of her Christmas gift, I'm making my mom an album of wedding pictures.  Shutterfly doesn't work well with our professional pictures (they're too detailed, so it comes out pixalated), so I'm using another site instead.  I've got the backbone done, I just want to add in some silly photo booth images as well.

7) Catch up on grading

To be fair, this may or may not happen. I'll probably grade in spurts, meaning three papers and then do something else.  It seems less painful this way.

8) Finish Play Like a Pirate

It's one of the books I picked up at ASCD and I'm loving it.  As I shared on Twitter, it's like having a super nerdy conversation with an old friend. I'm feeling inspired and making lots of notes in my book.

9) Nap.  Every day if possible.  (Day 1 complete).

10) Catch up on blogging.  Between classroom adventures and ASCD, I've got a lot of half started blog posts I need to finish.

What are your spring break goals?

Spring Break Homework

Yes, I gave my students homework over spring break.  

They came up with ideas and were really excited about all their "work".  I shared ideas with a few other teachers and they're making similar ones for their students.

They deserve a break, but I don't want them staying inside for 10 days playing video games. I want them to have fun with their families and build happy memories.  I want to focus on their emotional and social needs, not just their academic ones.